No one's laughing at 'Brand X'

Submitted by Jennifer Garcia on Thu, 07/12/2012 - 1:37pm

There are train wrecks and then there are TRAIN WRECKS. “Brand X,” English comedian Russell Brand’s new talk show is one of the latter. Actually, it’s not quite a talk show because there aren’t really any guests. Unless you count the guy that graduated from Harvard (Matt Stoller) that graces Brand’s stage and answers (or tries to answer) ridiculous, confusing questions that Brand asks him.

Actually, the whole show is confusing. Is it a talk show? Is it a comedy show? It’s not really clear. One thing however, is clear: it’s not funny. Brand can be funny, i.e. his role as Aldus Snow is “Get Him to the Greek.” But maybe that was because he had Jonah Hill as a co-star. Brand’s “comedy” falls flat in “Brand X.”

The debut show a couple of weeks ago was a waste of time. He talked non-stop about the Dalai Lama for about a quarter of the show, asking Stoller confusing questions about the Dalai Lama’s beliefs. Then there was the fact that he kept saying Dalai Lama, as if he liked the way it sounded. At one point in the show, he compared the Dalai Lama to Charlie Sheen, which to some, could have been offensive. The filming is also bad. It appears to be very amateur, as if someone is standing there with a video camera, taping a school talent show.

Toward the end of the show, he accosted one of his audience members and sat on her lap, while asking her questions. The woman looked uncomfortable, to say the least. Of course, the conversation quickly turned raunchy, as Brand grilled the poor woman and made off-color comments.

Brand blends his raunchy comedy with his dry sense of humor, which leaves the viewer wondering what, exactly, he hopes the show to be. Is it a regular stand-up routine, or is it supposed to be more like “The Jimmy Kimmel Show?” If it’s meant to be like that latter, he’s failed miserably. His jokes aren’t funny and there’s no music or skits to distract the viewer from his lack-luster performance. One show is probably more than enough for anyone. If this show lasts an entire season, it would be surprising.